Archive for January, 2013

Hello there, you are now reading Day 12 and the very last post of THE BEST HONG KONG FILMS EVER. It’s been a long journey getting here. We started receiving votes in early November, published our first post on this subject December 17th and now here we are a a full 24 days later, on January 10th, with the final post in this monstrosity.

When Chow Yun-Fat started reading this countdown
he did not have white hair. Or a beard.

This last entry contains only two films because they distanced themselves from all the others on the list early on, and were in a horse race for the number one slot until the very last days. Considering that the #3 film is nearly 100 points behind these two, we felt like separating them would be appropriate.

Also, we should note that thanks to HARD BOILED, THE KILLER and A BETTER TOMORROW placing in slots 6, 5 and 3, John Woo has officially run out aces. No Top 2 finish for you, Mr. Woo.

“Are we done here? I have a more popular Asian film website to visit.”

As usual, if you’re just joining us, you shouldn’t spoil the whole thing by looking at the top film first. Either go back in time using your Flux Capacitor or click one of the below links.

Hey, you’re still here! That’s amazing, because even we’re tired of how long we’re dragging this thing out. This is Day 11 of THE BEST 200 HONG KONG FILMS EVER and we’re here for numbers 5 through 3. Yep, only three films get revealed this time with numbers 1 and 2 left for another day. Sorry to split it up but you’ll see why later. We hope.

Anyway, the Top Ten is shaping up to be a John Woo vs. Wong Kar-Wai showdown, with each auteur possessing two aces left to show in this final five. But the fifth film is one they should be watching out for. You know what it is.

We do apologize that the films making up this TOP 200 list are so predictable. All told, roughly three-quarters of this list came from the eighties, nineties and aughts, and only a few movies from those decades were not featured on one of our previous lists. Wish we could have provided a better service with this vote and come up with a more comprehensive (read: with older movies) list. It’s just a lost opportunity, like the stuff that happens in life or Wong Kar-Wai movies.

Finally, we’re at Day 10 and the Top 10 of the BEST HONG KONG FILMS EVER. No surprise: every one of these films has been seen before in a previous LoveHKFilm Reader Vote, which means that we’re pretty much an eighties-and-up website. It would be good if the site could extend its coverage to the past using our considerable resources — namely access to the Hong Kong Film Archive — to flesh out our review archive. I figure this a long term project that can get underway in, oh, 2030.

But that’s 20 years from now and we have 10 movies ahead of us on list, most of which will come from John Woo and Wong Kar-Wai, two guys who have some key films yet to be accounted for.

John Woo is up for the challenge:

“I’ve got three films and two thumbs ready to kick some ass!”

Wong Kar-Wai isn’t fazed:

“This is me poking you, John Woo!”

By the way, if you’re just joining us, head back to the earlier updates to check out what happened before blah blah blah. Yeah, you’ve heard all this before. Here are the links:

Hi and welcome to Day 9 of THE BEST HONG KONG FILMS EVER. We’re limping to the finish line with this thing but we intend to end it this week. Basically, it has to happen or there will be firings.

As discussed multiple times, this is the BEST 200 HONG KONG FILMS EVER, as decided upon by 166 LoveHKFilm.com readers. Through the first 140 or so reveals there were some minor surprises plus a lot of familiar titles showing up from our previous TOP HONG KONG FILMS readers votes. However, from here on out, everything is a Top 10 finisher from before so you can easily suss out which films they are. The ranking still hold some suspense, though.

Sorry, some guys and their movies have been left in the cold:

The things a man must do to remain relevant
in the Hong Kong Entertainment industry

Would you believe THE STORM RIDERS did not place? Personally, I’m a little surprised.

As usual, if you’re just joining us today, it behooves you to check out previous updates to see what went down before. It’s like history class, but with more reading and no required attendance.

It’s Day 8 of the marathon TOP 200 HONG KONG FILMS EVER countdown, and guess what: we’re nearly done! Well, sort of. Actually, we have a few days left since we always slow down tremendously to bring you the final picks because, you know, suspense is awesome. Even though everyone knows which films will show up. Really, you do. Just look within.

This guy knows that he’s destined for some Top 10 love:

Chow Yun-Fat will see you at the Jumbo

Standard stuff: this list was put together by 166 readers or passerbys of LoveHKFilm.com, a website that inexplicably focuses on Hong Kong movies. Each person sent in a list of 10-20 choices, we tallied them and now we’ve spend a couple of weeks dishing out the results. If you want to see the countdown from the very the beginning, please click the below links to get started.

Hey, we’re at the final entry in our BEST HONG KONG FILM PERFORMANCES reader vote, where we give out the award for the Best Performance Ever in a Hong Kong Film. Already the hopefuls are putting their best faces forward to ask that they get the top spot:

This is why Francis Ng and Chow Yun-Fat
should never work together

Quick recap: this BEST HONG KONG FILM PERFORMANCES list was determined by 83 readers, who voted for performances in Hong Kong movies that they felt should be recognized as the best. Voters provided lists of 5-10 performances, then we tallied them up and came up with a list of 311 actors and their roles. We pulled off the top 33 and labeled those “the best”, and then we compiled the rest into a full list. You can find the complete list at the very bottom of this blog entry. Go ahead, look.

Also, if you’re just joining us, you may consider heading back to the beginning and reading about the Honorable Mentions, Bronze Awards, Silver Awards, Gold Awards and the Best Actor and Best Actress before getting to today’s Best Performance Ever. Yeah, it’s kind of weird to announce a Best Actor and Best Actress, and then slide another actor or actress in above them and label them the “Best Ever”, but that’s what we’ve decided to do. Please do not question our august judgement.

So, we’ve reached Day 4 of THE BEST HONG KONG FILM PERFORMANCES. This post will reveal the two actors and the two actresses who received the most votes — with the exception of one individual who received more votes than all of them and will be revealed afterwards. The simple version: there are five names left, and none of them are Donnie Yen.

Not like Donnie cares, he’s got other things on his mind:

Donnie Yen teaches us about one of his non-martial arts “stances.”

Quick background one more: 83 people sent in their random picks for Best Hong Kong Film Performances, and we tallied them up to come to these totals. So, for every actor that appears in this next batch of reveals, nearly a quarter of voters blindly wrote their names down. That’s actually a decent feat.

As usual, you may want to check the previous updates in case you wonder if a certain actor or performance has shown up.